So I have a PC who is about to acquire a powerful homebrew weapon (sword). To attune to it, she must go to a particular temple, speak with the previous wielders of the blade, and then engage in a solo trial by combat. She will be entirely solo throughout this (the rest of the party won't be with her) and she will need to attune to the weapon before the party heads off to fight the BBEG at the end of the session.
How would you handle a solo encounter in the middle of a group session? Switch back and forth between the solo encounter and what the rest of the group is doing elsewhere? I don't want the rest of the group to be bored during her encounter but it's an important part of this PC's story arc that she engage in this trial alone.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks! Session's in two days!
I would cut back between the solo character and the rest of the group at dramatically appropriate times. If the other players are actually doing stuff, it's important not to ignore them for too long.
On the other hand, if it's some kind of downtime session where the other players have already done what they want to do, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not your first player's fault if everyone else only wanted to do stuff that takes ten minutes to adjudicate and what she wants to do takes longer (this is a scenario I run into a lot myself, *cough*).
Could you do it with the player beforehand? Meet with the player a little early and Just do the interaction with the understanding that none of this actually happens until you go to the temple. Then when the time comes, you say she goes to the temple, and returns three days later, or however long it takes. Then the player can tell everyone about what happened.
To add to what Xalthu said, it can be interesting to the other players if they hear how the encounter went from her instead of them already hearing how everything goes as a player. This will also help if she does something less honorable or if things don't go haywire. Maybe she wants to hide some of the things that happen. It can create a lot of interesting possibilities for the moment that she gets back to the group.
If it's in the middle of a session you can also see if you can separate her from the group. For my next session, I want to start with one player while I let the others walk the dog. Not allowing them to be there can create curiosity and be taken separately can also create tension. I remember always being a bit scared when my old dm wanted to talk to me in private.
Thanks so much to you all for the replies! Great advice all around. I think you're right in thinking that it's best if I can set this up without having to ask the other players to wait. I've jumped back and forth between events previously, sometimes to really fun effect, but this will definitely be her sitting in the spotlight for quite some time. And Brewsky, that's a great suggestion, thank you. While this is intended to force the PC to see what she's capable of on her own, involving the other players is almost always the way to go, even if it's just peripherally. Still gives them some agency.
I wouldn't involve the other players or switch back and forth between events. Tell the others beforehand what is going to happen and let them decide if they want to watch or not (which could obviously lead to a solo session if nobody's interested).
Imo what you describe sounds like a climax in that PCs story and any kind of interference would water this event down and hurt the atmosphere. People manage to watch 22 complete strangers chasing a ball for two hours, so watching and cheering for your friend having an epic moment for an hour shouldn't be too much. :-)
Especially if each of the PCs receives their moment of glory eventually.
This is an excellent point, Naresea, thank you. Hmm...I think the best thing to do would be to a.) follow my gut in the moment based on how the night’s gone up to that point, and b.) have a quick check-in with everyone before moving forward in that moment to see where their instincts lie in terms of story and fun.
I’m a pretty new dm so all of this input is tremendously helpful, thanks!
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So I have a PC who is about to acquire a powerful homebrew weapon (sword). To attune to it, she must go to a particular temple, speak with the previous wielders of the blade, and then engage in a solo trial by combat. She will be entirely solo throughout this (the rest of the party won't be with her) and she will need to attune to the weapon before the party heads off to fight the BBEG at the end of the session.
How would you handle a solo encounter in the middle of a group session? Switch back and forth between the solo encounter and what the rest of the group is doing elsewhere? I don't want the rest of the group to be bored during her encounter but it's an important part of this PC's story arc that she engage in this trial alone.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, thanks! Session's in two days!
I would cut back between the solo character and the rest of the group at dramatically appropriate times. If the other players are actually doing stuff, it's important not to ignore them for too long.
On the other hand, if it's some kind of downtime session where the other players have already done what they want to do, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not your first player's fault if everyone else only wanted to do stuff that takes ten minutes to adjudicate and what she wants to do takes longer (this is a scenario I run into a lot myself, *cough*).
Have events that happen with the group directly help or hinder the solo player. Give them a stake in her success.
Could you do it with the player beforehand? Meet with the player a little early and Just do the interaction with the understanding that none of this actually happens until you go to the temple. Then when the time comes, you say she goes to the temple, and returns three days later, or however long it takes. Then the player can tell everyone about what happened.
To add to what Xalthu said, it can be interesting to the other players if they hear how the encounter went from her instead of them already hearing how everything goes as a player. This will also help if she does something less honorable or if things don't go haywire. Maybe she wants to hide some of the things that happen. It can create a lot of interesting possibilities for the moment that she gets back to the group.
If it's in the middle of a session you can also see if you can separate her from the group. For my next session, I want to start with one player while I let the others walk the dog. Not allowing them to be there can create curiosity and be taken separately can also create tension. I remember always being a bit scared when my old dm wanted to talk to me in private.
Thanks so much to you all for the replies! Great advice all around. I think you're right in thinking that it's best if I can set this up without having to ask the other players to wait. I've jumped back and forth between events previously, sometimes to really fun effect, but this will definitely be her sitting in the spotlight for quite some time. And Brewsky, that's a great suggestion, thank you. While this is intended to force the PC to see what she's capable of on her own, involving the other players is almost always the way to go, even if it's just peripherally. Still gives them some agency.
Thanks again to you all, what a great community!
I wouldn't involve the other players or switch back and forth between events. Tell the others beforehand what is going to happen and let them decide if they want to watch or not (which could obviously lead to a solo session if nobody's interested).
Imo what you describe sounds like a climax in that PCs story and any kind of interference would water this event down and hurt the atmosphere. People manage to watch 22 complete strangers chasing a ball for two hours, so watching and cheering for your friend having an epic moment for an hour shouldn't be too much. :-)
Especially if each of the PCs receives their moment of glory eventually.
This is an excellent point, Naresea, thank you. Hmm...I think the best thing to do would be to a.) follow my gut in the moment based on how the night’s gone up to that point, and b.) have a quick check-in with everyone before moving forward in that moment to see where their instincts lie in terms of story and fun.
I’m a pretty new dm so all of this input is tremendously helpful, thanks!